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Editorial Staff

Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer, with the assistance of his Imperial Court, is again attacking the right of the public to disagree with the policy agenda he has for the city. Righeimer and his allies have decided that the Mayor should be able to censor comments that are (in the Mayor’s opinion) outside the jurisdiction of the city council or attempting to engage the audiance rather than the city council, by making such commentary a crime, a misdemeanor.

Yesterday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors took up the proposal by Supervisor John Moorlach to limit the ability of voters in special elections to fill Supervisor vacancies to vote the way they want. Special elections come up notoriously short when it comes to voter turnout. As we wrote yesterday, Moorlach’s proposal would have asked voters to approve a county charter amendment allowing Supervisors to conduct special elections by mail only, eliminating the option to vote in person at a local precinct

Quietly, and without warning, Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach has introduced a proposal to place on the November 2014 ballot a Charter amendment requiring that all special elections for County offices be conducted by mail only. Under his plan, voters would not be able to vote in person at their local precinct on the day of a special election. His public rationale is simple, he want’s to save a few bucks in special election costs.

On Monday, Community College District trustee Jose Solorio challenged his opponent for State Senate, Supervisor Janet Nguyen, to “return contributions with connections to possible corrupt activities.” Solorio’s call for the return of contributions follows a report in OC Weekly, “Little Saigon Politicians Linked To Alleged Police-Tied Loan Sharking Operation.”

Yesterday the preliminary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for former OC Public Works executive Carlos Bustamante began in the courtroom of OC Superior Court Judge Kazuharu Makino. The former rising star in the Orange County Republican party and former Santa Ana City Councilman is charged with 12 felony and four misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, false imprisonment, stalking, and grand theft.

An administrative law judge representing the state Public Employment Relations Board ruled this week that Orange County supervisors acted in “bad faith” last year when they imposed wage and benefit concessions on more than 500 attorneys employed by the county.